Anna is an original and inventive singer-songwriter with a musical style that, although based in folk, spans an array of genres. A multi-instrumentalist musical dynamo, she intertwines this fluency with a poetic and intimate lyricism, communicating her unique take on the world around her. Her captivating stage presence is combined with a playful approach to performing which reaches out to the whole audience.

NOW: In the last year Anna has got together with Sally Barker and Marion Fleetwood to form the trio I O T A writing and performing their own collaborative material with touring dates booked for 2018.

Anna has also been working with re-formed Fotheringay initially for the Jerry Donahue Benefit Concert but potentially to continue working as a compact line-up ‘Listen-Listen’ performing Fotheringay and Sandy Denny songs in the future. She also continues to gig solo, and in duos with various artists as well as to record.

As well as this, Anna has formed a duo with the inimitable Keith Donnelly as Something A Bit Different doing a set of interesting and diverse covers, and she has been performing with fiddler and multi-instrumentalist Tom Leary (of Feast of Fiddles and ex-Lindisfarne mandolinist)…

SOME DETAIL: Anna has performed mainly on the folk scene playing all kinds of venues from small clubs to large festivals. She has made six albums including ‘Pockets On Fire’ which was released on the Fairport Convention label ‘Woodworm’ with Fairport playing on eight of the tracks, and, in 2016, the long-awaited The Art of Making Faces was released which is an album of extraordinary beauty and subtle complexity bursting with original songs and littered with lots of interesting musicians and sounds.

MORE DETAIL: Fairport Convention covered and recorded Anna’s songs: ‘Sailing Boat’ in 1997, ‘The Crowd’ in 2002 – which was performed several times at Cropredy as well as on tour dates – and ‘Bring Me Back My Feathers’ in 2015. Anna played the 20,000 strong Cropredy Festival from 1998 to 2005 and then again in 2014 and 2016 – three of these performances being full sets of her own. She also played there on Eddi Reader’s set in 2001 and as part of Deborah Rose’s band in 2014 and, continuing her relationship with Fairport, supported them on their UK Winter Tour in 1999 as well as joining them on several of their acoustic UK tours and recording on five of their albums as well as playing with them at Cropredy Convention 2016.

Attracting various invitations to perform and record with, and for many different artists, Anna is a musician’s musician. She was invited to support Julianne Regan with All About Eve from 2000 to 2002; touring Australia in 2002 she also played again with Eddi Reader (ex-Fairground Attraction) and then performed her own songs with Jacqui McShee (Pentangle) in Germany in 2003. During this time Anna also toured with The Dylan Project and then as part of ‘The Fairport Supporters’ line-up with Steve Tilston and Bob Fox, going on to record on both performers’ albums as well as touring as part of their bands.

RECORDING: Anna’s innovative and ambitious album ‘Paper Girl’ was released in 2004 and features, amongst others, John Rabbit Bundrick (keyboard player The Who), Clive Bunker (drums ex-Jethro Tull) and members of Fairport. Anna then toured this album in Germany with the annA rydeR Band, comprised of Martin Brunsden (Hot House Flowers, Jacqui Dankworth, Cleo Laine) and Clive Bunker. In 2016, her 6th release, a studio album of diverse and enthralling songs ‘The Art Of Making Faces’ again featured Dave Pegg on bass and Clive Bunker on drums, with keyboardist Spencer Cozens (formerly with the John Martyn Band), Chris Leslie, Alan Thomson and others including a 50 strong choir.

Anna has become known as a bluegrass accordionist joining a host of other musicians at the famous Didmarton Bluegrass Festival at which she played in 2008, 2009 and, in 2012, with bass player Alan Thomson (formerly with the John Martyn Band and who also plays with the Martin Barre Band and Jacqui McShee’s Pentangle).

Anna is now working on her 7th album.

RowdyMusic, Anna’s own music company was formed in 1993 to encompass all her music work.